Net Primary Productivity Allocation Research Articles

Temporal Dynamics of Canopy Properties and Carbon and Water Fluxes in a Temperate Evergreen Angiosperm Forest

The forest–atmosphere exchange of carbon and water is regulated by meteorological conditions as well as canopy properties such as leaf area index (LAI, m2 m−2), photosynthetic capacity (PC μmol m−2 s−1), or surface conductance in optimal conditions (Gs,opt, mmol m−2 s−1), which can vary seasonally and inter-annually. This variability is well understood for deciduous species but is poorly characterized in evergreen forests. Here, we quantify the seasonal dynamics of a temperate evergreen eucalypt forest with estimates of LAI, litterfall, carbon and water fluxes, and meteorological conditions from measurements and model simulations. We merged MODIS Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) values with site-based LAI measurements to establish a 17-year sequence of monthly LAI. We ran the Community Atmosphere Biosphere Land Exchange model (CABLE-POP (version r5046)) with constant and varying LAI for our site to quantify the influence of seasonal canopy dynamics on carbon and water fluxes. We observed that the peak of LAI occurred in late summer–early autumn, with a higher and earlier peak occurring in years when summer rainfall was greater. Seasonality in litterfall and allocation of net primary productivity (FNPP) to leaf growth (af, 0–1) drove this pattern, suggesting a complete renewal of the canopy before the timing of peak LAI. Litterfall peaked in spring, followed by a high af in summer, at the end of which LAI peaked, and PC and Gs,opt reached their maximum values in autumn, resulting from a combination of high LAI and efficient mature leaves. These canopy dynamics helped explain observations of maximum gross ecosystem production (FGEP) in spring and autumn and net ecosystem carbon loss in summer at our site. Inter-annual variability in LAI was positively correlated with Net Ecosystem Production (FNEP). It would be valuable to apply a similar approach to other temperate evergreen forests to identify broad patterns of seasonality in leaf growth and turnover. Because incorporating dynamic LAI was insufficient to fully capture the dynamics of FGEP, observations of seasonal variation in photosynthetic capacity, such as from solar-induced fluorescence, should be incorporated in land surface models to improve ecosystem flux estimates in evergreen forests.

Plants alter their aboveground and belowground biomass allocation and affect community-level resistance in response to snow cover change in Central Asia, Northwest China

It is important to elucidate the changing distribution pattern of net primary productivity (NPP) to mechanistically understand the changes in aboveground and belowground ecosystem functions. In water-scarce desert environments, snow provides a crucial supply of water for plant development and the spread of herbaceous species. Yet uncertainty persists regarding how herbaceous plants' NPP allocation responds to variation in snow cover. The goal of this study was to investigate how variation in snow cover in a temperate desert influenced the NPP allocation dynamics of herbaceous species and their resistance to environmental change in terms aboveground and belowground productivity. In the Gurbantunggut Desert, wintertime snow cover depth was adjusted in plots by applying four treatments: snow removal (−S), ambient snow, double snow (+S), and triple snow (+2S). We examined their species richness, aboveground NPP (ANPP), belowground NPP (BNPP), and the resistance of ANPP and BNPP. We found that species diversity of the aboveground community increased significantly with increasing snow cover and decreased significantly Pielou evenness in plots. This resulted in greater ANPP with increasing snow cover; meanwhile, BNPP first increased and then decreased with increasing snow cover. However, this productivity in different soil layers responded differently to changed snow cover. In the 0–10 cm soil layer, productivity first rose and then declined, while it declined linearly in both the 10–20 cm and 20–30 cm soil layers, whereas in the 30–40 cm soil layer it showed an increasing trend. Belowground resistance would increase given that greater snow cover improved the BNPP in deeper soil and maintained the resource provisioning for plant growth, thus improving overall belowground stability. These results can serve as a promising research foundation for future work on how the functioning of desert ecosystems becomes altered due to changes in plant community expansion and, in particular, changes in snow cover driven by global climate change.

Differences in net primary production allocation and nitrogen use efficiency between Moso bamboo and Japanese cedar forests along a slope

ABSTRACT The responses of forest production and nitrogen (N) utilization to belowground resource availability may be stronger in Moso bamboo forests than in woody forests because the former have higher N and water demands than the latter. The aim of this study was to clarify the different effects of mountain slope-induced belowground resource limitation on forest production between a Moso bamboo forest and a Japanese cedar forest. We compared the changes in biomass, net primary production, net primary production allocation, N utilization, N content per organ, and N use efficiency in response to soil resource availability at five different slope positions in each forest type. In the bamboo forest, the aboveground net primary production decreased upslope and the belowground net primary production allocation increased with decreasing upslope soil water availability. In contrast, leaf N content of the bamboo forest increased upslope, and N use efficiency decreased upslope with an increasing upslope soil N mineralization rate. Although a greater N use efficiency has often been reported at higher slope positions due to lower N availability, this phenomenon was observed at lower slope position in the bamboo forest. The soil N supply might exceed the soil N demand at higher slope positions, resulting in lower N use efficiency. The responses observed in the bamboo forest were absent in the Japanese cedar forest. The higher demand for belowground resources and environmental plasticity explained the higher productivity of the bamboo forest.

Experimental evaluation of herbicide use on biodiversity, ecosystem services and timber production trade‐offs in forest plantations

Abstract The value of non‐commodity ecosystem services provided by forests is widely recognized, but intensive forest management practices are increasing, with uncertain consequences for a multitude of these services. Quantitative relationships among biodiversity conservation, timber production and other ecosystem services remain poorly understood, especially during the early‐successional period of intensively managed forestlands. We manipulated management intensity in regenerating forest plantations to test the prediction that treatments aimed at maximizing timber production decrease biodiversity conservation and non‐timber services. We measured species richness of 3 taxonomic groups and 13 proxies for provisioning, cultural and regulating services within stands randomly assigned to one of the three herbicide application intensities or an untreated control. Herbicides increased allocation of net primary production to crop trees, increasing projected timber volume and revenues at 40‐ and 60‐year harvest ages. Commonly used herbicide prescriptions reduced culturally valued plants by 71%, wild‐ungulate forage by 41%, avian richness by 20% and pollinator floral resources by 42%, the latter being associated with 38% fewer pollinator species. However, agriculturally valued bumblebees, pollination of blueberries, avian‐mediated arthropod control, wild ungulate observations and regulation services tied to forest productivity appeared unaffected by increasing management intensity and timber production. Species richness and flora‐provided services in young forest plantations exhibited strong trade‐offs with projected timber production, whereas post‐treatment vegetation regeneration and site‐level variation likely maintained a range of other services. Although vegetation recovery is important for supporting wildlife and some ecosystem services on industrial forestlands, it is unlikely that any single prescription can optimize both timber and non‐timber benefits to society across managed forest landscapes. Instead, producing different services in discrete portions of the landscape may be necessary. Synthesis and applications. We tested the effects of intensive forest management via herbicides on ecosystem services and found that biodiversity responses and services from early‐successional vegetation trade‐off against timber production. A number of services appeared to be compatible with timber production, although no single prescription optimized the full range of services. Stand‐level biodiversity conservation and a variety of services could potentially be provided by treatment skips and less‐intensive management on productive sites, although it is unlikely that all services can be optimized without landscape‐level planning.

Fine root dynamics across pantropical rainforest ecosystems.

Fine roots constitute a significant component of the net primary productivity (NPP) of forest ecosystems but are much less studied than aboveground NPP. Comparisons across sites and regions are also hampered by inconsistent methodologies, especially in tropical areas. Here, we present a novel dataset of fine root biomass, productivity, residence time, and allocation in tropical old-growth rainforest sites worldwide, measured using consistent methods, and examine how these variables are related to consistently determined soil and climatic characteristics. Our pantropical dataset spans intensive monitoring plots in lowland (wet, semi-deciduous, and deciduous) and montane tropical forests in South America, Africa, and Southeast Asia (n=47). Large spatial variation in fine root dynamics was observed across montane and lowland forest types. In lowland forests, we found a strong positive linear relationship between fine root productivity and sand content, this relationship was even stronger when we considered the fractional allocation of total NPP to fine roots, demonstrating that understanding allocation adds explanatory power to understanding fine root productivity and total NPP. Fine root residence time was a function of multiple factors: soil sand content, soil pH, and maximum water deficit, with longest residence times in acidic, sandy, and water-stressed soils. In tropical montane forests, on the other hand, a different set of relationships prevailed, highlighting the very different nature of montane and lowland forest biomes. Root productivity was a strong positive linear function of mean annual temperature, root residence time was a strong positive function of soil nitrogen content in montane forests, and lastly decreasing soil P content increased allocation of productivity to fine roots. In contrast to the lowlands, environmental conditions were a better predictor for fine root productivity than for fractional allocation of total NPP to fine roots, suggesting that root productivity is a particularly strong driver of NPP allocation in tropical mountain regions.

Variations of carbon allocation and turnover time across tropical forests

AbstractAimThe carbon sink in tropical forests is a highly uncertain component of the global carbon budget. An understanding of the processes controlling this sink requires better quantification of carbon allocation, stocks and turnover times.LocationTropical forests.Time period2010–2017.Major taxa studiedTropical forest ecosystem.MethodsWe develop a novel data assimilation system using satellite‐based annual above‐ground biomass derived from L‐band vegetation optical depth with 25 km × 25 km grid spacing, together with leaf area, to constrain the 25 km × 25 km carbon allocation patterns of net primary productivity (NPP) into the wood, leaf and root pools, and their turnover times. Our average data‐driven estimates of these variables are broadly consistent with independent ground‐based estimates of NPP allocation and wood turnover from forest inventory plots.ResultsIn tropical forest, on average, the NPP allocation into wood (0.30 ± 0.04) is significantly higher than that into leaves (0.24 ± 0.07). From the wet to dry tropics, forest NPP allocation into both wood and leaves declines slightly. The turnover times of forest leaf pools exhibit little spatial variation, whereas the turnover times of wood pools in Africa (median and interquartile range: years) are slightly longer than those in South America ( years) and Southeast Asia ( years). Our datasets reveal emergent trade‐offs across climatic and vegetation gradients between growth and life span/turnover for both wood and leaves. The spatial gradients of NPP allocation to wood/leaves are associated with canopy height, adjusted by climate condition and nutrient acquisition. The spatial gradients of wood and leaf turnover times are influenced mainly by climate and leaf characteristics.Main conclusionsOur data‐driven estimates of carbon allocation and turnover times provide a basis for more detailed exploration of these mechanisms in field studies. This highlights that improved model representation of carbon allocation and turnover is necessary for more accurate prediction of future carbon dynamics.

Shifting biomass allocation determines community water use efficiency under climate warming

Understanding how net primary production (NPP) and its allocation respond to climate warming is of fundamental importance in predicting ecosystem carbon (C) cycle and C-climate feedback. Especially, the optimal partitioning theory suggests that plants preferentially allocate photosynthates toward the above- or below-ground parts to acquire the limiting resources to maximize their growth rate and optimize resource use under environmental change. However, it remains elusive on how NPP allocation changes and regulates community water-use efficiency (WUEc) under climate warming. In this study, we conducted a manipulative warming experiment with three levels of warming treatments (control, + 1.5 °C and + 2.5 °C) to explore the response of NPP allocation and its regulation on WUEc in an alpine meadow. Results showed that above-ground NPP (ANPP) and below-ground NPP (BNPP) responded differently to warming. On average, W1.5 (+ 1.5 °C) and W2.5 (+ 2.5 °C) treatments increased BNPP by 28.98% and 33.28% and increased NPP by 20.05% and 38.70%, respectively, across 4 years. Whereas no consistent warming effect on ANPP was observed across years. The fraction of BNPP to total NPP (fBNPP) responded positively to warming under low ambient temperature and community biomass while it responded negatively under high ambient temperature and community biomass. Notably warming-induced changes in fBNPP negatively correlated with warming-induced changes in WUEc. These results suggested that warming effect on NPP allocation was largely contextually dependent and implied important biological regulation on WUEc. The emerging trade-offs between NPP allocation and WUEc reflect adaptation strategy of plant community under climate change.

High Below-Ground Productivity Allocation of Alpine Grasslands on the Northern Tibet.

The allocation of net primary production (NPP) between above- and belowground components is a key step of ecosystem material cycling and energy flows, which determines many critical parameters, e.g., the fraction of below ground NPP (BNPP) to NPP (fBNPP) and root turnover rates (RTR), in vegetation models. However, direct NPP estimation and partition are scarcely based on field measurements of biomass dynamics in the alpine grasslands on the Northern Tibetan Plateau (NTP). Consequently, these parameters are unverifiable and controversial. Here, we measured above- and belowground biomass dynamics (monthly from May to September each year from 2013 to 2015) to estimate NPP dynamics and allocations in four typical alpine grassland ecosystems, i.e., an alpine meadow, alpine meadow steppe, alpine steppe and alpine desert steppe. We found that NPP and its components, above and below ground NPP (ANPP and BNPP), increased significantly from west to east on the NTP, and ANPP was mainly affected by temperature while BNPP and NPP were mainly affected by precipitation. The bulk of BNPP was generally concentrated in the top 10 cm soil layers in all four alpine grasslands (76.1% ± 9.1%, mean ± SD). Our results showed that fBNPP was significantly different among these four alpine grasslands, with its means in alpine meadow (0.93), alpine desert steppe (0.92) being larger than that in the alpine meadow steppe (0.76) and alpine steppe (0.77). Both temperature and precipitation had significant and positive effects on the fBNPP, while their interaction effects were significantly opposite. RTR decreased with increasing precipitation, but increased with increasing temperature across this ecoregion. Our study illustrated that alpine grasslands on the NTP, especially in the alpine meadow and alpine desert steppe, partitioned an unexpected and greater NPP to below ground than most historical reports across global grasslands, indicating a more critical role of the root carbon pool in carbon cycling in alpine grasslands on the NTP.

Plants alter their vertical root distribution rather than biomass allocation in response to changing precipitation.

Elucidating the variation of allocation pattern of ecosystem net primary productivity (NPP) and its underlying mechanisms is critically important for understanding the changes of aboveground and belowground ecosystem functions. Under optimal partitioning theory, plants should allocate more NPP to the organ that acquires the most limiting resource, and this expectation has been widely used to explain and predict NPP allocation under changing precipitation. However, confirmatory evidence for this theory has mostly come from observed spatial variation in the relationship between precipitation and NPP allocation across ecosystems, rather than directly from the influences of changing precipitation on NPP allocation within systems. We performed a 6-yr five-level precipitation manipulation experiment in a semiarid steppe to test whether changes in NPP allocation can be explained by the optimal partitioning theory, and how water requirement of plant community is maintained if NPP allocation is unaltered. The 30 precipitation levels (5 levels × 6 yr) were divided into dry, nominal, and wet precipitation ranges, relative to historical precipitation variation over the past six decades. We found that NPP in both aboveground (ANPP) and belowground (BNPP) increased nonlinearly as precipitation increased, while the allocation of NPP to BNPP (fBNPP ) showed a concave quadratic relationship with precipitation. The declined fBNPP as precipitation increased in the dry range supported the optimal partitioning theory. However, in the nominal range, NPP allocation was not influenced by the changed precipitation; instead, BNPP was distributed more in the surface soil horizon (0-10cm) as precipitation increased, and conversely more in the deeper soil layers (10-30cm) as precipitation decreased. This response in root foraging appears to be a strategy to satisfy plant water requirements and partially explains the stable NPP allocation patterns. Overall, our results suggest that plants can adjust their vertical BNPP distribution in response to drought stress, and that only under extreme drought does the optimal partitioning theory strictly apply, highlighting the context dependency of the adaption and growth of plants under changing precipitation.

Global Patterns in Net Primary Production Allocation Regulated by Environmental Conditions and Forest Stand Age: A Model‐Data Comparison

AbstractThe allocation of net primary production (NPP) to different plant structures, such as leaves, wood, and fine roots, plays an important role in the terrestrial carbon cycle. However, the biogeographical patterns of NPP allocation are not well understood. We constructed a global database of forest NPP to investigate the observed spatial patterns of forest NPP allocation, as influenced by environmental drivers and forest stand age. We then examined whether dynamic global vegetation models (DGVMs) could capture these allocation patterns. The NPP allocation response to variations in temperature or precipitation was often opposite in leaves and fine roots, a finding consistent with the functional balance theory for allocation. The observed allocation to fine roots decreased with increasing temperature and precipitation. The observed allocation to wood and leaves decreased with forest stand age. The simulated allocation with five DGVMs was compared with the observations. The five models captured the spatial gradient of lower allocation to fine roots with increasing temperature and precipitation but did not capture coincident gradients in allocation to wood and leaves. None of the five models adequately represented the changes in allocation with forest stand age. Specifically, the models did not reproduce the decrease in allocation to wood and leaves and the increase in allocation to fine roots with increasing forest stand age. An accurate simulation of NPP allocation requires more realistic representation of multiple processes that are closely related to allocation. The NPP allocation database can be used to develop DGVMs.

Does the net primary production converge across six temperate forest types under the same climate?

Quantifying net primary production (NPP) and its allocation is essential for understanding and modeling the carbon (C) cycling in forest ecosystems. We used biometry-based measurements to examine the NPP allocation for six temperate forest types with similar stand age and climate but diverse stand characteristics and site conditions in northeastern China. The forest types included four naturally-regenerated stands and two planted stands. Our objectives were to (1) compare the NPP and its allocation among the six forest types, and (2) explore the factors driving the inter-stand variability of the NPP allocation patterns. We found that the total NPP (TNPP) and NPP of short-lived biomass tissues (NPPSL) differed significantly among the forest types, varying from 709 to 927 gC m−2 yr−1 and from 364 to 594 gC m−2 yr−1, respectively. However, the NPP of long-lived tissues (NPPLL) did not differ significantly among the forest types, varying from 305 to 364 gC m−2 yr−1. These results suggested that the production of structural tissues be relatively stable under the same climate, and the inter-stand difference in TNPP be mainly attributed to the difference in NPPSL. Within the four natural stands, the foliage production was significantly and positively correlated with soil nitrogen (N) (R2 = 0.50) and phosphorus (P) stock (R2 = 0.37), whereas the fine root production was significantly and negatively correlated with soil C:P (R2 = 0.54) and N:P ratio (R2 = 0.47), implying that foliage and root production may be driven by different mechanisms. The convergence of NPPLL across forest types with different stand characteristics, site conditions and management practices but under the same climate has important implication in managing forest ecosystems for C sequestration, while the divergence of NPPSL implies that vegetation can adapt to the site conditions by changing resource-absorbing tissues production and its allocation.

Carbon dynamics, net primary productivity and human-appropriated net primary productivity across a forest-cocoa farm landscape in West Africa.

Terrestrial net primary productivity (NPP) is an important metric of ecosystem functioning; however, there are little empirical data on the NPP of human-modified ecosystems, particularly smallholder, perennial crops like cocoa (Theobroma cacao), which are extensive across the tropics. Human-appropriated NPP (HANPP) is a measure of the proportion of a natural system's NPP that has either been reduced through land-use change or harvested directly and, previously, has been calculated to estimate the scale of the human impact on the biosphere. Additionally, human modification can create shifts in NPP allocation and decomposition, with concomitant impacts on the carbon cycle. This study presents the results of 3years of intensive monitoring of forest and smallholder cocoa farms across disturbance, management intensity, distance from forest and farm age gradients. We measured among the highest reported NPP values in tropical forest, 17.57±2.1 and 17.7±1.6MgCha-1 year-1 for intact and logged forest, respectively; however, the average NPP of cocoa farms was still higher, 18.8±2.5MgCha-1 year-1 , which we found was driven by cocoa pod production. We found a dramatic shift in litterfall residence times, where cocoa leaves decomposed more slowly than forest leaves and shade tree litterfall decomposed considerably faster, indicating significant changes in rates of nutrient cycling. The average HANPP value for all cocoa farms was 2.1±1.1MgCha-1 year-1 ; however, depending on the density of shade trees, it ranged from -4.6 to 5.2MgCha-1 year-1 . Therefore, rather than being related to cocoa yield, HANPP was reduced by maintaining higher shade levels. Across our monitored farms, 18.9% of farm NPP was harvested (i.e., whole cocoa pods) and only 1.1% (i.e., cocoa beans) was removed from the system, suggesting that the scale of HANPP in smallholder cocoa agroforestry systems is relatively small.

Allocation of forest net primary production varies by forest age and air temperature.

Carbon partition among plant parts has a vital influence not only on the growth of individual plants but also on decomposition, carbon and nitrogen sequestration, and plant–atmosphere water exchange. Although many studies have tried to reveal plant growth mechanisms using observational living biomass or the biomass ratio among different organs, knowledge and understanding about carbon partition is still scarce and exists much uncertainty. In this work, a dataset about 1,089 sample plots of natural forests downloaded from the Chinese Ecosystem Research Network (CERN) was used to explore the dependences of net primary production (NPP) partition among foliage, stem and branch, and root on forest age, and mean annual temperature (MAT). The results found that (a) for all forest types, NPP partition had a significant relationship with forest age (p < 0.0001), that is, younger plants usually allocated a higher proportion of the NPP to stems, branches, and roots. As plants aged, an increasing proportion of the NPP was allocated to foliage; (b) MAT was negatively correlated with the proportions of the NPP allocated to foliage (F leaf; %) and roots (F root; %), while proportions of the NPP allocated to stems and branches (F stbr; %) were positively dependent on MAT; (c) independent effect analysis demonstrated that forest age had a larger direct influence on F leaf and F root, while MAT was relatively important for F stbr; and (d) forest age and MAT had a stronger combined effect on NPP allocation for broad‐leaved forests, while for needled‐leaved forests, the influences of forest age and MAT existed large differences among different forest types. This work not only is important for understanding the contribution of climatic factor and forest age on forest NPP partition, but also provides valuable ideas for developing ecological models.

Shifting plant species composition in response to climate change stabilizes grassland primary production

The structure and function of alpine grassland ecosystems, including their extensive soil carbon stocks, are largely shaped by temperature. The Tibetan Plateau in particular has experienced significant warming over the past 50 y, and this warming trend is projected to intensify in the future. Such climate change will likely alter plant species composition and net primary production (NPP). Here we combined 32 y of observations and monitoring with a manipulative experiment of temperature and precipitation to explore the effects of changing climate on plant community structure and ecosystem function. First, long-term climate warming from 1983 to 2014, which occurred without systematic changes in precipitation, led to higher grass abundance and lower sedge abundance, but did not affect aboveground NPP. Second, an experimental warming experiment conducted over 4 y had no effects on any aspect of NPP, whereas drought manipulation (reducing precipitation by 50%), shifted NPP allocation belowground without affecting total NPP. Third, both experimental warming and drought treatments, supported by a meta-analysis at nine sites across the plateau, increased grass abundance at the expense of biomass of sedges and forbs. This shift in functional group composition led to deeper root systems, which may have enabled plant communities to acquire more water and thus stabilize ecosystem primary production even with a changing climate. Overall, our study demonstrates that shifting plant species composition in response to climate change may have stabilized primary production in this high-elevation ecosystem, but it also caused a shift from aboveground to belowground productivity.

Effects of species replacement on the relationship between net primary production and soil nitrogen availability along a topographical gradient: Comparison of belowground allocation and nitrogen use efficiency between natural forests and plantations

Changes in dominant plant species can influence the net primary production (NPP) via changes in species traits, including nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) and belowground allocation enhancing N uptake, as well as soil N availability. We investigated changes in above- and belowground NPP, N uptake, and NUE in response to changes in soil N in natural forests and plantations, with and without changes in species compositions among the environmental gradient, respectively. In plantations, NPP increased with increasing availability of soil N in the presence of constant NUE and the proportion of belowground NPP to total NPP. However, in natural forests, aboveground, belowground, and total NPP were high for the available middle range soil N. Belowground NPP and the proportion of belowground NPP to total NPP in natural forests was positively related to aboveground NPP. Both belowground NPP and soil N mineralization rates explained stand N uptake rates. These results indicated that belowground allocation might facilitate aboveground NPP with enhancement of N uptake by root allocation. Stand NUE decreased with soil N availability in natural forests and was stable in plantations, and resulted in lower production in natural forests and higher production in plantations under high soil N availability. The community weighted mean (CWM) of N resorption efficiency was positively related to NUE. The CWM of juvenile root growth, as reported previously for planted juveniles, was positively related to belowground NPP allocation. In addition, the ranges of CWMs were broader in natural forests than in plantations. This suggested that the different changes in NPP in response to changes in soil N between natural forests and plantations was due to the changes in leaf and root species traits via changing in species composition among sites. In conclusion, the present study showed that the changes in species specific traits in root growth and leaf N strongly affected the relationship between soil N availability and stand carbon and N dynamics.

Logging disturbance shifts net primary productivity and its allocation in Bornean tropical forests.

Tropical forests play a major role in the carbon cycle of the terrestrial biosphere. Recent field studies have provided detailed descriptions of the carbon cycle of mature tropical forests, but logged or secondary forests have received much less attention. Here, we report the first measures of total net primary productivity (NPP) and its allocation along a disturbance gradient from old-growth forests to moderately and heavily logged forests in Malaysian Borneo. We measured the main NPP components (woody, fine root and canopy NPP) in old-growth (n=6) and logged (n=5) 1ha forest plots. Overall, the total NPP did not differ between old-growth and logged forest (13.5±0.5 and 15.7±1.5 Mg C ha-1 year-1 respectively). However, logged forests allocated significantly higher fraction into woody NPP at the expense of the canopy NPP (42% and 48% into woody and canopy NPP, respectively, in old-growth forest vs 66% and 23% in logged forest). When controlling for local stand structure, NPP in logged forest stands was 41% higher, and woody NPP was 150% higher than in old-growth stands with similar basal area, but this was offset by structure effects (higher gap frequency and absence of large trees in logged forest). This pattern was not driven by species turnover: the average woody NPP of all species groups within logged forest (pioneers, nonpioneers, species unique to logged plots and species shared with old-growth plots) was similar. Hence, below a threshold of very heavy disturbance, logged forests can exhibit higher NPP and higher allocation to wood; such shifts in carbon cycling persist for decades after the logging event. Given that the majority of tropical forest biome has experienced some degree of logging, our results demonstrate that logging can cause substantial shifts in carbon production and allocation in tropical forests.

The variation of productivity and its allocation along a tropical elevation gradient: a whole carbon budget perspective.

Why do forest productivity and biomass decline with elevation? To address this question, research to date generally has focused on correlative approaches describing changes in woody growth and biomass with elevation. We present a novel, mechanistic approach to this question by quantifying the autotrophic carbon budget in 16 forest plots along a 3300m elevation transect in Peru. Low growth rates at high elevations appear primarily driven by low gross primary productivity (GPP), with little shift in either carbon use efficiency (CUE) or allocation of net primary productivity (NPP) between wood, fine roots and canopy. The lack of trend in CUE implies that the proportion of photosynthate allocated to autotrophic respiration is not sensitive to temperature. Rather than a gradual linear decline in productivity, there is some limited but nonconclusive evidence of a sharp transition in NPP between submontane and montane forests, which may be caused by cloud immersion effects within the cloud forest zone. Leaf-level photosynthetic parameters do not decline with elevation, implying that nutrient limitation does not restrict photosynthesis at high elevations. Our data demonstrate the potential of whole carbon budget perspectives to provide a deeper understanding of controls on ecosystem functioning and carbon cycling.

Comparing the Performance of Three Land Models in Global C Cycle Simulations: A Detailed Structural Analysis

AbstractLand models are valuable tools to understand the dynamics of global carbon (C) cycle. Various models have been developed and used for predictions of future C dynamics but uncertainties still exist. Diagnosing the models' behaviors in terms of structures can help to narrow down the uncertainties in prediction of C dynamics. In this study three widely used land surface models, namely CSIRO's Atmosphere Biosphere Land Exchange (CABLE) with 9 C pools, Community Land Model (version 3·5) combined with Carnegie–Ames–Stanford Approach (CLM‐CASA) with 12 C pools and Community Land Model (version 4) (CLM4) with 26 C pools were driven by the observed meteorological forcing. The simulated C storage and residence time were used for analysis. The C storage and residence time were computed globally for all individual soil and plant pools, as well as net primary productivity (NPP) and its allocation to different plant components' based on these models. Remotely sensed NPP and statistically derived HWSD, and GLC2000 datasets were used as a reference to evaluate the performance of these models. Results showed that CABLE exhibited better agreement with referenced C storage and residence time for plant and soil pools, as compared with CLM‐CASA and CLM4. CABLE had longer bulk residence time for soil C pools and stored more C in roots, whereas, CLM‐CASA and CLM4 stored more C in woody pools because of differential NPP allocation. Overall, these results indicate that the differences in C storage and residence times in three models are largely because of the differences in their fundamental structures (number of C pools), NPP allocation and C transfer rates. Our results have implications in model development and provide a general framework to explain the bias/uncertainties in simulation of C storage and residence times from the perspectives of model structures. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.

Carbon storage, net primary production, and net ecosystem production in four major temperate forest types in northeastern China

Temperate forests in northeastern China play a key role in the national carbon (C) budget; however, this role has been poorly quantified. The objective of this study was to quantify C storage, net primary production (NPP), and net ecosystem production (NEP) in four major temperate forest types in northeastern China. The four forest types include a primary mixed broadleaf – Korean pine (Pinus koraiensis Siebold &amp; Zucc.) old-growth forest and three mid-aged regenerating forests, i.e., a secondary birch (Betula platyphylla Sukaczev) forest, a Korean pine plantation, and a Dahurian larch (Larix gmelinii (Rupr.) Rupr.) plantation. Total C storage differed significantly among the four forest types, with the highest storage (315.4 t C·ha−1) in the old-growth forest. Soil organic C accounted for 55%–70% of the ecosystem C, whereas vegetation C accounted for 28%–43% of the ecosystem C. Soil organic C storage in the two plantations was significantly lower than that in old-growth and secondary birch forests. The allocation (aboveground and belowground) of NPP, but not the total NPP, differed significantly among the forest types. Litterfall (44%–60%) and fine root production (43%–47%) contributed the largest proportion of the aboveground and belowground NPP, respectively. The highest NEP was in the Korean pine plantation (328.0 g C·m−2·year−1), followed by the old-growth (311.9 g C·m−2·year−1) and secondary birch (231.1 g C·m−2·year−1) forests, with the lowest NEP in the Dahurian larch plantation (187.9 g C·m−2·year−1). These results suggest that the major forest types are currently C sinks and Korean pine plantation establishment can be a promising approach for increasing C sequestration in northeastern China.

РАЗЛИЧИЕ ЭКОЛОГИЧЕСКИХ СТРАТЕГИЙ ХВОЙНЫХ ПОРОД В ЕВРОПЕЙСКИХ И КАНАДСКИХ БОРЕАЛЬНЫХ ЛЕСАХ: МОДЕЛЬНЫЙ АНАЛИЗ

Обсуждается роль распределения по органам (аллокации) биологической нетто-продуктивности (net biological productivity, NBP)деревьев как параметра, отражающего их экологическую стратегию. Использование индивидуально-имитирующей пространственнораспределенной модели «дерево-почва» EFIMOD для европейских и североамериканских бореальных лесов выявило существенные отличия экологических параметров европейских сосны (Pinus sylvestris L.) и ели (Picea abies L. [Karst.]) от североамериканских сосны Банкса (Pinus banksiana Lamb.) и ели черной (Picea mariana Mill.). Были обнаружены сильные различия между этими древесными породами по аллокации NBP между хвоей и тонкими корнями. У североамериканских хвойных пород в сравнении с европейским изначительно большая часть NBP расходуется на образование тонких корней. Для исследования влияния аллокации NBP на компоненты баланса углерода и продукцию древесины был поставлен вычислительный эксперимент. Дополнительно был использован параметр «емкость круговорота» (turnover capacity, ТС), представляющий собой сумму NBP, дыхания почвы и потерь биомассы с рубкамии пожарами. Сравнение североамериканских и европейских хвойных пород проводилось в двух вариантах. В первом модельная имитация с изменением аллокации NPP проводилась при «произрастании» деревьев в их естественных условиях (канадские в Канаде, европейские в России). Во втором варианте «рост» канадских видов имитировался в условиях русского климата и почв, а европейских – в соответствующих канадских условиях. Результаты выявили существенные различия роста деревьев, изменения почв и параметров баланса углерода в зависимости от типов распределения NBP. Породы с высокой долей NBP, расходуемой на рост тонких корней, показали меньшую скорость роста даже при достаточно высокой емкости биологического круговорота в более мягком климате европейской России. Породы с более выравненным «европейским» распределением NBP росли лучше канадских даже в более континентальном холодном климате центральной Канады. Были идентифицированы два уровня производительности древостоев в зависимости от перераспределения NBP и от емкости круговорота экосистем. Эти уровни ясно показывают, что производительность древостоев (прирост древесины) может существенно различаться при одинаковых значениях NBP и емкости круговорота, если древесные породы имеют различные типы реаллокации. Это отражает адаптацию североамериканских хвойных пород к суровым климатическим условиям сочень холодными почвами на севере и очень сухими на юге бореальных лесов центральной Канады. Предложен индекс распределения NBP (отношение NBP листьев к NBP тонких корней) в качестве показателя устойчивости деревьев к стрессу, адаптации к суровым климатическим условиям и экологической стратегии.